By Munacho Gwamanda-President Emmerson Mnangagwa and ZANU PF’s legal affairs chief, Patrick Chinamasa, have clashed over the party’s propaganda wing, Varakashi4ED, exposing deeper factional tensions within the ruling party.
The fallout became apparent last week when Mnangagwa overturned Chinamasa’s decision to dismiss six paid social media activists, whom Chinamasa had branded “rogue elements.”
In a handwritten note on an appeal letter from one of the dismissed activists, Jonasi Mandiwisa Musara, Mnangagwa declared the dismissals “null and void.”
Musara, a key member of Varakashi4ED, had petitioned the president to reverse their expulsion.
Mnangagwa’s intervention directly undermines Chinamasa’s authority and signals widening divisions within ZANU PF, a party already embroiled in succession battles.
Chinamasa, who serves as the executive director of the Varakashi4ED Social Media Unit, had justified the dismissals, alleging that the activists insulted him and other senior party officials.
The Varakashi4ED unit, a critical arm of ZANU PF’s digital propaganda machinery, is tasked with attacking critics of Mnangagwa while amplifying pro-government narratives.
One of the dismissed activists, Tinotenda Gachange, shared Musara’s appeal letter on social media, highlighting Mnangagwa’s handwritten directive. In a defiant post, Gachange wrote:
“Successionists and rogue anti-2030 elements cloaked in deceit are attempting to silence the voices of progress. Their intimidation tactics are clear signs of cowardice, aimed at undermining the persuasive efforts of the 2030ists who support President Mnangagwa’s term extension.
President Mnangagwa stands firm, and so do we, undeterred and unbowed.”
Though he did not name Chinamasa directly, Gachange’s remarks appeared to be a veiled attack on him, accusing him of attempting to muzzle activists who support constitutional amendments to extend Mnangagwa’s rule beyond the current presidential term limits.
The other reinstated activists include Tafadzwa Mawire, Felix Muzondo, Pardon Mangwende, and Herbert Mathe.
Mnangagwa’s decision to overrule Chinamasa is likely to deepen tensions within ZANU PF, as factions jostle for influence ahead of the 2028 elections and the potential push for an extension of his presidency beyond the current constitutional limits.